I don’t get to wander from my desk often. But the other day I took a little field trip out to First Grade P.E. Oh my goodness, First Grade P.E. is THE BEST! They started with running two laps to warm up. Ok that part’s not so exciting but the next two games they played made me want to be 6 years old again. And not just because you don’t have to plan and cook all your own meals when you’re 6 years old.
The first was a called “Land, Sea, Air.” All the students stand on a starting line. Mr. Teran, our P.E. teacher more casually known as Mr. T., calls out a command. “Air!” Everybody jumps up. “Land!” Everybody jumps behind the line. “Sea!” Everybody jumps in front of the line. “Tornado!” Everybody turns around. “Cannonball!” Everybody crouches down to the ground. Of course all these commands are shouted with speed so it’s a flurry of jumping and turning and if you miss it, you’re out! Finally, two students are left, Finn and Quinn. “Land! Sea! Land! Tornado! Air! Air! Tornado!” And Quinn is out! The kids went wild! The boys rallied around Finn, cheering and hugging each other.
Then we moved on to Body Roshambo. Did you know you could play Rock, Paper, Scissors (or Roshambo) with your whole body? Well, you can, and it’s the best thing you’ll play all day. The two competitors start back to back. “Ro…. sham…. Bo….,” and then they both turn around and strike a pose. For rock, you squat down and give yourself a hug, making your body smaller and round like a rock. For paper, you stand up tall and put both arms straight up in the air. For scissors, you stand up and both arms go straight out in front of you, opening and closing like a pair of scissors.
In this variation, the loser becomes the winner’s “fan,” which means the loser stands behind the winner, hands on shoulders and follows the winner around to their next match. And the game continues. Like “Land, Sea, Air” there are eventually only two players left. Everyone else has become a fan. This time, the last two standing were Sam and Emme. The excitement was palpable as all the “fans” leaned to the side to be able to see who would win. “Best two out of three!” Mr. T. calls. Sam’s rock crushed Emme’s scissors. Emme’s scissors cut Sam’s rock. Then they both called paper. UGH! The “fans” moaned. Finally, Sam calls another rock, crushing Emme’s scissors. Everybody screams, myself included. Sam does a little victory dance as Mr. T. transitions them into the next activity.
As I walked back to my desk I thought about the lessons in all these activities. For one, they’re fun. They’re great short games to intro into a typical P.E. class. The Body Roshambo though inspired a couple other ideas. Roshambo is a game of instinct, but also of strategy. Of course, when you’re six it’s pretty much all instinct. Winning Roshambo is really more about luck at that age. This adaptation of the game integrates not just their mind but also their motor skills. The quick motion of turning around and striking a pose literally uses every part of their body. They’re having to think quickly and move quickly at the same time. That’s quite a challenge for such a young brain. Heck, it’s sometime a challenge for my 30-year-old brain!
Adding the “fan” element creates a supportive mentality as well. It’s bringing the whole class together to support a cause. It’s almost like a team sport. Who knew you could promote community by playing Roshambo? It’s brilliant though. The concept of a supportive community is hard to explain to a six year old. But if you put it in terms of Body Roshambo, they understand. It’s a concept they’ll need to take with them their whole lives.